• Energy Research

During the last century, the MagnetoCaloric Effect (MCE) has been widely used for realizing extremely low temperatures. However, it is only in the last three decades that some of the efforts to develop a benign and cutting-edge technology for realizing the MCE at temperatures around room temperature have been realized. The main component of magnetocaloric systems is the Active Magnetic Regenerator (AMR), but it is difficult to realize an optimum design for the AMR because of the poor mechanical properties of the MagnetoCaloric Materials (MCMs). In this study, an AMR configuration comprising a stack of gadolinium wires is investigated. A 1D physical model and a computer simulation program that can be used for studying the system are discussed in detail. The pressure drop, refrigeration capacity, Coefficient Of Performance (COP) and the exergy efficiency are numerically evaluated. Numerous simulation results obtained by using water as the working fluid for different regenerator geometries are discussed and optimal solutions are presented. These results are compared with those obtained for a configuration containing a bed of particles through which the working fluid flows. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract In this study, a flat-parallel-plate active magnetic regenerator made of gadolinium is investigated. The coupling of a one-dimensional thermal model with a two-dimensional magnetic model is presented. The thermal model takes into consideration the magnetocaloric effect as a source term and the energy conservation between a solid and a fluid. The magnetic model considers the space distribution of the internal magnetic field strength, and thus it includes the demagnetization effect. Measurements on an experimental magnetic refrigeration test device are performed using distilled water as the working fluid. At cyclic steady states, the temperatures of the fluid on both sides of the regenerator are calculated numerically and compared with the measurement results. The inability to provide a constant internal magnetic field during the heat transfer process with a permanent magnet is demonstrated. A reasonable agreement between simulations and experiments confirms the validity of the proposed model.

Pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) are complex heat transfer devices whose thermal performance is governed by a strong thermohydrodynamic coupling. Recently, PHPs have attracted attention as novel electronic cooling devices. In this study, we used a self-rewetting fluid and obtained new experimental results for the improvement of the heat transport efficiency in PHPs. In contrast to the case of common liquids, the surface tension of self-rewetting fluids increases with temperature. Because of the increase in the surface tension at high temperatures, these fluids tend to flow toward the dry spot appearing on a heated surface, and thus, the boiling heat transfer is improved. We constructed PHPs from multiport extruded aluminum tubes with square channels. The PHPs consisted of a heating section, an adiabatic section, and a condensation section with a heat sink. We investigated the effect of the type of working fluid and the fluid fill ratio on the device performance. The working fluids employed were a self-rewetting fluid, water, and ethanol. The thermophysical properties of the working fluid affected the device performance, which also depended strongly on the boundary conditions employed during the PHP operation. In particular, the use of a self-rewetting fluid in the PHPs helped enhance the heat transport efficiency to a considerable extent.

Abstract We studied the reduction of natural convection heat loss from a solar thermal collector by placing a high-porosity porous medium above the collector plate in a solar thermal collector system. It is known that natural convection can be diminished in a porous medium. In order to use a porous medium in a solar thermal collector, it is necessary to minimize the shading effect of solar radiation caused by the porous medium. In this work, we used a series of offset wire screens made of fine nylon fishing lines of 0.05 mm in diameter with 2-mm pitch and a porosity of 0.999. The experimental apparatus consisted of a copper 300 mm × 300 mm collector plate with a selective absorption film on the surface. We measured the reduction rate of the convection heat loss from the collector plate and the shading effect for actual sun radiation by changing the condition of the porous medium, the temperature of the collector plate, and the inclined angle of the collector plate. Experimental results of the Nusselt number of natural convection in the high-porosity porous medium agreed with the equation proposed by Gupta et al. The effect of the inclined angle on the Nusselt number was small. The net reduction rate of natural convection heat loss was 7% by placing the high-porosity porous medium above the collector plate when the temperature of the collector plate was 100 °C.

A cold thermal energy storage system has been developed for HVAC. There are many ice-based cooling systems operating around the world. Ice slurry, which is a mixture of fine ice crystals and liquid water, is utilized in ice storage systems owing to its good flowability and large latent heat of fusion. For slurry ice production techniques, there are presently a number of commercially available ice slurry generators (e.g., Supercooled slurry ice generator, Scraper type generator, and Vacuum type generator, etc.). In the present study, a new method was developed to generate ice slurry without the deposition of an ice layer on a cooled surface. The basic components of the experimental apparatus is a cooling brine circulating loop, a high pressure pump, a valve, an aqueous solution flow loop containing the test section, which is made of transparent acrylic, and the associated instrumentation. This new method is based on freezing-point depression of the aqueous solution, which is maintained under high-pressure conditions. To control the timing for solidification and to generate ice slurry, we investigated the relationships among the pressure and temperature of the aqueous solution. The freezing phenomenon of the aqueous solution in the test section was observed in detail. As a result, we developed a new ice slurry generator based on the new method that controls the pressure and temperature of the aqueous solution. Experimental results showed that the characteristics of the ice slurry generation were closely related to the pressure and initial stage temperature of the test fluid. Finally, the optimum operation condition of the ice slurry generator based on visualization experiment was discussed.

The cooling characteristics of a room temperature magnetic refrigerator using an active magnetic regenerator (AMR) is presented. The AMR system, which is based on a combination of a thermal storage process and a regeneration process, is widely applied for room temperature magnetic refrigerator. And the system has four sequential processes : adiabatic magnetization, fluid flow, adiabatic demagnetization, and fluid flow. We devise the appropriate simulation model of the heat transfer process inside the AMR particle bed. In addition, the temperature profile inside the AMR bed and the cooling characteristics of the room temperature magnetic regenerator using AMR are performed analytically. In this research, the validity of the analytical model is verified by comparing the experimental results with the analytical results. The results show the larger the fluid transfer volume, the larger the temperature difference between the hot and the cold ends. Also we can observe when the higher magnetic field is applied to the magnetocaloric material, the large temperature span is obtained.

Abstract A great deal of attention has been paid to energy saving devices in place of conventional air-cooled and water-cooled devices. The thermal energy storage system that uses the latent heat of a PCM (phase change material) for air-conditioning or heating has recently become popular because it does not require high electric power and it saves energy. An emulsion dispersed nano-size particles of phase change material is produced. We discuss with the thermophysical properties, the stability of emulsion, and the heat transport characteristics as a thermal functional fluid. The testing emulsion, which has nano-size particles as the discrete phase, is produced with a d -phase emulsification method. The diameter of discrete phase in the emulsion is measured for evaluation of the long-term stability of emulsion. In addition, the DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) curve of emulsion is determined. Thermophysical properties such as viscosity and thermal conductivity of emulsions were studied in this work, and was compared with that of the base fluid. The results reveal that the emulsion with the d -phase emulsification method has the superior stability. From the differential thermal analysis, the DSC curve of present emulsion indicates a discontinuous change at the phase change temperature of phase change material due to its latent heat.

Ice slurry has attracted a great deal of attention as a coolant for direct contact cooling. In this study, we generated ice slurry by the method of pressure shift freezing (PSF), which is based on the freezing-point depression of an aqueous solution at high-pressure conditions. As a result, the basic characteristics of the ice slurry generation are clarified. Moreover, the physical properties of the ice slurry indicate that the shape of an ice particle in the ice slurry is strongly affected by both the supercooling degree and the aqueous solution concentration.